(Updates to close of US market)

*

Stocks fall as tariff uncertainty weighs

*

US durable goods orders rise 0.9%, beating expectations

*

Dollar index strengthens, on pace for fifth gain in six

sessions

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - Global stocks dropped for

the first time in three sessions on Wednesday and the U.S.

dollar resumed its ascent as investors awaited the next tariff

announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump was scheduled to hold a press conference at 4 p.m. EDT

(2000 GMT) and has recently confirmed the auto tariffs will be

on cars.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks ended sharply lower, as the

technology sector dropped 2.46% to weigh heavily. Each

of the three major U.S. indexes snapped a three-session streak

of gains.

Stocks had shown signs of bottoming in recent days after

coming under pressure due to uncertainty over the tariff outlook

and its potential to slow the global economy and dent corporate

profits. The major U.S. indexes are on track for their first

back-to-back monthly declines since the two-month period that

ended in October 2023.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 132.71 points,

or 0.31%, to 42,454.79, the S&P 500 fell 64.45 points, or

1.12%, to 5,712.20 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 372.84

points, or 2.04%, to 17,899.02.

The U.S. Commerce Department said orders for durable goods

increased 0.9% versus the estimate of economists polled by

Reuters for a 1% fall, as businesses rushed to place orders for

primary metals and fabricated metal products ahead of the

anticipated tariffs.

Trump said on Monday automobile tariffs were coming soon,

even as he indicated not all of his threatened levies would be

imposed on April 2 and some countries may get exemptions. He

also slapped 25% secondary tariffs on any country that buys oil

or gas from Venezuela.

"The conviction level amongst investors that April 2nd is

going to be the clearing event now in terms of dealing with

changes to trade-related policy seems to be pretty low in terms

of that probability so there's likely to be a persistency in

terms of the ongoing rollout of these types of headlines and

policies that seem to have a little bit more staying power,"

said Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager for equities at

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, rose 0.33% to 104.56, with the

euro down 0.37% at $1.0751. After dipping on Tuesday, the

greenback is on track for its fifth gain in six sessions.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell

7.84 points, or 0.92%, to 845.65, while the pan-European STOXX

600 index closed down 0.7% as the coming tariffs

spurred caution.

European stocks have outperformed their U.S. counterparts

this year, largely on hopes a German spending package could spur

growth and help counter the levies. The STOXX 600 was poised for

its biggest percentage gain since the fourth quarter of 2022.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened

0.43% to 150.55. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the

central bank must raise interest rates if persistent increases

in food costs lead to broad-based inflation.

New Bank of Japan board member Junko Koeda said the

country's real interest rates are currently "extremely low," as

inflation accelerates backed by solid growth in wages, but

declined to comment on how soon the central bank should raise

interest rates.

Sterling weakened 0.45% to $1.2885 after British

finance minister Rachel Reeves cut the government's plans for

spending increases to get back on track towards her fiscal

targets. Earlier data showed British inflation slowed more than

expected in February.

U.S. Treasury yields were higher, with the yield on

benchmark U.S. 10-year notes up 4.2 basis points to

4.333%, after briefly paring declines following an auction of

$70 billion in five-year notes.

Multiple Fed officials have recently cautioned against the

Fed moving too quickly to cut rates in light of the uncertain

environment, including Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank

President Neel Kashkari and St. Louis Fed President Alberto

Musalem on Wednesday.

U.S. crude settled up 0.94% to $69.65 a barrel and

Brent settled at $73.79 per barrel, up 1.05% on the day

after government data showed U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories

fell last week. Oil was also supported by mounting concerns

about tighter global supply following the U.S. threat of tariffs

on nations buying Venezuelan crude.